The present invention relates generally to communication systems and, in particular, to informing a user of a communication device operating in a communication system where to obtain a product that may be desired by the user.
Wireless communication systems are well known and include various types of systems, such as cellular telephone systems, paging systems, two-way radio systems, personal communication systems, personal area networks, data systems, and various combinations thereof. Such wireless systems are known to include a system infrastructure and communication devices constructed and programmed to operate in the respective system. The system infrastructure includes fixed network equipment, such as base transceiver sites (BTSs), system controllers, switches, routers, communication links, antenna towers, and various other known infrastructure components. The communication devices include antenna systems, transmitters, receivers, processors, memory, user interfaces, and user controls.
Wireline communication systems are also well known and, similar to their wireless counterparts, include a system infrastructure and communication devices. Such systems include local area networks or wide area networks, such as the Internet. The system infrastructure includes switches, routers, communication links, servers, and various other known infrastructure components. The communication devices include transmitters, receivers, processors, memory, user interfaces, and user controls. A typical communication device is a personal computer connected to a wireline or cable modem.
Certain wireless systems include the capability, either inherently or specially, to locate communication devices within the systems with varying degrees of accuracy. For example, a cellular system inherently includes the capability to coarsely locate a registered cellular telephone either within a so-called paging location area (e.g., a group of cells or BTS coverage areas)xe2x80x94when the cellular telephone is not actively engaged in a communicationxe2x80x94or within a cell or BTS coverage areaxe2x80x94when the cellular telephone is actively engaged in a communication. A cellular system must be able to locate cellular telephones with the aforementioned accuracies to enable the telephones to properly receive and place telephone calls.
Other systems have been proposed to enable more accurate locating of wireless devices in the event of an emergency or simply for the purposes of continually monitoring the locations of the devices (e.g., in public safety systems). Such other systems either incorporate global positioning satellite (GPS) receivers in the wireless devices or use triangulation techniques to approximately locate the devices.
Location-determining in wireline systems is inherent. Since wireline users are not mobile (except possibly for the use of cordless phones, but even then the cordless base unit is fixed), they can only be at one location (i.e., near the fixed location of the device""s access point to the system).
It is well known for product providers, or equivalently vendors, to use advertising in an attempt to increase the sales of their products. In wireline communication systems, such as the Internet, product providers use so-called xe2x80x9cbanner advertisementsxe2x80x9d that appear on the computer screen when certain web pages are opened. Banner advertisements, like other forms of advertising, attempt to create a desire in the viewer of the advertisement to purchase the advertised product or attempt to leave an impression with the viewer, such that when the viewer eventually desires to obtain the type of product advertised, the viewer will remember the advertisement and visit the provider to purchase the product. With the recent advent of Internet-accessible mobile telephones, such banner-type advertising, if not already, will soon be available to wireless users also. However, banner advertisements and other forms of advertising, such as television commercials, are directed at consumers in general and are not directed to the individual needs of consumers at the times such needs arise.
Although techniques for locating devices in wireline and wireless systems are known and approaches for advertising products generally to wireless and wireline users are also known, there are no communication systems that combine both location and advertising to provide consumers with product information as they need it based on their current location. Thus, consumers must rely on advertising they hear on the radio or see on television, in the newspaper, or as banner ads on the Internet to obtain information on products they may at some time need. However, such advertisements rarely address an immediate need of the consumer. Moreover, even if the advertisement or commercial addresses the consumer""s immediate need, the advertisement may be useless to the consumer if the consumer is unfamiliar with the area and does not know whether the provider of the product is nearby or far away from the consumer""s current location.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and communication system for informing a user of a communication device where to obtain a product, wherein such method and system provide product information (e.g., advertisements) to the user at the time the user needs or likely needs such information and wherein the product information relates to product providers that are located, or at least have distribution locations, near the current location of the user.